Observation (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) - Fiji (Ratification: 1974)

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government in its reports, as well as the information provided to the Conference Committee in June 1996 and the detailed discussion which took place thereafter. It further notes the observations made by the Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) in a communication dated 24 September 1996 and the reply of the Government thereto.

1. Article 2 of the Convention. In its previous comments, the Committee had stressed the need to adopt specific measures, particularly through legislation, to guarantee adequate protection (accompanied by sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions) to workers' organizations against any act of interference by employers or their organizations.

In its communication of 24 September 1996, the FTUC points out that although a subcommittee had been established to come up with proposals for consideration of the Labour Advisory Board in July 1996, there has been no fruitful conclusion to date. The Government responds that a subcommittee of the Labour Advisory Board had been set up on 8 July 1996 to discuss changes proposed by the Ministry of Labour and Industrial Relations on the revision of the current system of labour reforms. This subcommittee, which subsequently held two meetings, would issue a report to the Labour Advisory Board at its final meeting in 1996.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the contents of the 1996 report of the subcommittee of the Labour Advisory Board with regard to the measures to be taken to guarantee adequate protection to workers' organizations against acts of interference by employers or their organizations. In view of the fact that the Committee has been commenting on this issue for several years, it expresses the firm hope that the Government will take the necessary measures in the very near future to ensure full compliance with the Convention on this point.

2. Articles 3 and 4.(a) In relation to the FTUC's comments that the Vatukoula Joint Mining Company has had recourse to delaying tactics and challenged the report of the Commission of Inquiry concerning the refusal by the company to recognize an independent registered Fiji Mineworkers' Union, the Government states that it cannot intervene since the matter is now before the court. The Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of the court's decision in the matter of the Vatakoula mines once it has been handed down.

(b)In response to the Committee's previous comments that the Trade Union (Recognition) Act was silent as to the position of a representative union which did not cover 50 per cent of the employees in a bargaining unit, the Government had pointed out that the amendment of this Act had led to a multiplicity of unions in one undertaking all of which were granted bargaining rights. The Committee requests the Government to submit in its next report the provisions of the Trade Union (Recognition) Act which have been amended to extend collective bargaining rights to the representative unions in a bargaining unit even when none of them covers 50 per cent of the employees in this unit.

3. Article 4. The Committee had noted previously that section 10 of the Counter-Inflation (Remuneration) Act allowed for the restriction or regulation, by order of the Prices and Incomes Board, of remuneration of any kind, and stipulated that any agreement or arrangement which did not respect these limitations would be illegal and deemed to be an offence. The Committee had considered, however, that the powers vested under the Act in the Prices and Incomes Board did not meet the criteria for acceptable limitations on voluntary collective bargaining and had asked the Government to keep it informed of any application in practice of section 10 of the Act.

The Government states in its report that the object of section 10 of the Act is to curb the upward spiralling of wages. In its comments, the FTUC points out that the Government refused to go to voluntary arbitration on the log of claims of the unions to which the Government replies that collective bargaining has not been affected to the stage alleged, as free collective bargaining is allowed on other conditions except for wages.

While noting the Government's explanation on this point, the Committee must recall that if, under an economic stabilization or structural adjustment policy, for compelling reasons of national economic interest wage rates cannot be fixed freely by means of collective bargaining, restrictions should be applied as an exceptional measure and only to the extent necessary, should not exceed a reasonable period and should be accompanied by adequate safeguards to protect effectively the standard of living of the workers concerned (see General Survey on freedom of association and collective bargaining, 1994, paragraph 260). Since these wage ceilings date back to 1986, the Counter-Inflation (Remuneration) Act cannot be considered to be an exceptional measure introduced for a reasonable period of time. Since the criteria for acceptable limitations on voluntary collective bargaining do not appear to have been met, the Committee would accordingly ask the Government to take the necessary measures to amend section 10 of the Act in order to ensure full compliance with the Convention on this point.

4. The Committee takes note of the comments made by the Fiji Trade Union Congress (FTUC) in a communication dated 17 September 1997. It requests the Government to provide its observations thereon.